Details
CHEN CHIN
(Chinese, 1907-1998)
Leisure
signed in Chinese (lower right)
glue colour on paper
167 x 125 cm. (65 3/4 x 49 1/4 in.)
one seal of the artist
Provenance
Formerly Property from Mr Yang Zhaojia (Acquired from the artist directly)
Private Collection, Asia (Acquired from the frailly of Mr Yang Zhaojia)

Brought to you by

Eric Chang
Eric Chang

Lot Essay

Chen Chin was the first female Taiwanese artist during a very conservative era of the Japanese colonial period. At age 19, her work was selected in Taiwan's first major art exhibition, "Three Youths of Taiwan," where she showed together with Lin Yu-Shan and Kuo Hsueh-Hu. She would later gain a special place in the history of Taiwanese art, particularly among the older generation of women artists.

Leisure (Lot 3410), depicts a girl in a Japanese yukata lying on her side, leaning her cheek on her right hand as though lost in a daydream. The glossy, refined style gives one a sense of gentle grace and cultivated elegance. The boats at the upper right run parallel to the girl, not only adding the finishing touch to the composition but also ensuring that the center of gravity does not tilt toward the lower left, giving balance to the painting. Chen Chin makes exquisite use of the vivid color and delicate detail that gouache allows for: the extremely fine brushstrokes from the hair to the detail on the fan to the pattern of the yukata, her works are known as fuzokubijin or "beauties of custom" paintings, gaining her the title of "First Lady of Taiwanese Painters."

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